Luis Barragán was an architect from Guadalajara around 1930, after WWII he designed projects in Mexico City, and he produced many influential works through the 1970s. Primary colors, smooth walls, angular structures and exceptional lighting is how I would describe his style. When he purchased the land for his home and studio, it was on the outskirts of Mexico City, but now it’s central. The modern architecture tucked into a narrow upscale neighborhood south of Chapultepec park looks like some nouveau riche shoe-horned it in, instead of being the original that inspired so many followers.
OK, the photo is across the street from #14, and I couldn’t actually get a ticket to tour the inside. There are only a few tours a week, and they sell out online quickly. Even the bookstore wasn’t open when it was supposed to be. Oh well, technically I arrived at this architect’s home by electric vehicle, the Metro, which was cheap and convenient. If you are a visiting professor of architecture, you can probably arrange a tour of this World Heritage Site through your university. But there were a few disappointed common folk outside. Maybe architecture isn’t meant for the masses?
The Plaza Santo Domingo in the historic center of Mexico City is the southern terminus of ‘The Royal Road of the Interior Land’, a World Heritage Site. As you can see above, some vendors still use traditional market stands on this trade trail first developed by pre-Columbian empires. The whole trail was originally a native trading route for turquoise, obsidian and feathers, and after the Spanish conquest, it was used for military, religious expansion and for silver. From this plaza, the road runs north through San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato all the way through El Paso (‘the pass’) to Santa Fe (‘holy faith’). The US section—with the same Spanish name—is a national historic trail.
In the background is the Palace of the Inquisition, which arrived from Spain to punish the son of Hernán Cortés, Martín, who threatened independence in 1566. Public burnings of witches and heretics were common for ~250 years, until Mexican Independence ended the practice in 1820. The ‘palace’ now houses a UNAM medical museum, although there is a small gory museum of the inquisition a few blocks away. Mexico City is the largest and oldest city in North America, and it is well worth visiting to be able to walk in the footsteps of history.
In the US, the Independence War means the same as the Revolutionary War, but in Mexico, they are two different wars. 100 years after Hidalgo cried out for Independence from Spain in 1810, the country was under the control of the dictator Porfirio Díaz, who ruled for 35 years over a growing gap between the elites and the masses. He commissioned the ostentatious building above to celebrate his rule, but it ended up celebrating the end of his rule after the Revolution of 1910-1920. Since the common people were uneducated, the new era of called for artists to paint huge public murals to tell the story of Mexico. The three great muralists were Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros and Jose Clemente Orozco. All three have murals on permanent exhibit on the oversized second floor inside. Siqueiros uses stunning, clear images to depict the drama of human suffering and bondage. Orozco contrasts vivid lives with cold modern weapons. And Diego Rivera presents his profound understanding of social struggle, using historic figures, ancient images and modern allegories, to awaken people.
The historic center includes far more than one museum, but to appreciate it, you need to understand what’s buried beneath the metropolitan cathedral, grand government buildings and the huge public square. Once there was a lake ringed by volcanoes, and the Aztecs built an empire around an island, using landfill and bridges to create a moated city. Thousands of captured warriors were sacrificed publicly and walls of skulls have been uncovered. From this easily defended base, rich with food grown on floating gardens such as at Xochimilco, over 200,000 lived here, with a sophisticated canal system and extensive trading network. When Hernán Cortés arrived here in 1519, it was one of the largest cities in the world. After building boats and bringing in cannon, the besieged city fell, and the Spanish drained the lake, tore down the temples to make a cathedral, and paved the ruins of the temples and markets to make the huge, empty square Zócalo public space, where over 100,000 now gather to hear the President speak from the balcony of the National Palace or to listen to pop music stars perform. Begin in the Zócalo and take the walking tour to learn about the excavated Aztec ruins and much more in this fascinating, important and historic city center.
University City, the main campus of UNAM, the National Autonomous University of Mexico, is a World Heritage Site, and it was founded in 1551, just four months after the oldest university in the Americas was founded in Peru. It is autonomous, meaning free to teach without government interference, although the PRI government did kill hundreds of students in 1968, during the Tlatelolco massacre. The faculty and alumni include all Mexican Nobel winners to date. The north face of the 10 story Central Library (above) is covered with Aztec mural mosaics by Juan O’Gorman, friend of Diego Rivera.
This is only half of a World Heritage Site, Mexico City, even though it’s on the outskirts. Frankly it’s status is controversial. To the extent that it preserves the long cultural history of floating gardens and canals, then it deserves global recognition. Unfortunately, it’s also known as a place to get drunk with friends over the weekend on one of the colorful boats above. And the city has encroached on the area, overbuilding, developing, squatting, polluting and diverting the water. So, it’s at risk. Really the damage was mostly due to the Spanish who drained the lake to build a new city over the old Aztec city, so this is one of the few places directly linked to the extensive ancient Aztec canoe and irrigation canals. A few parts are preserved, some are threatened and many are gone. Restoration is difficult and expensive, but worth it in my view.
If you were disappointed by not being able to climb the 3 pyramids at Teotihuacán, then you will love climbing around here. This massive temple complex on a hill south of Mexico City may have been built as a successor to the more famous site north, as it has similar art. It also suffered a similar fate, as it was burned around 900. When you work your way around to the top of the Great Pyramid above, there are various animal symbols, a large plaza with baths, and even an observatory. Before telescopes, measurements and observations were taken through a tube in the ceiling by recording where the light shone on different days of the year. Be sure to get a good look at the temple of the feathered serpents. The head priest had a residence above the great temple, and the views of the valley are magnificent! The whole drive from Puebla was enjoyable, as I skirted around past the smoking volcano Popocatépetl.
The city’s cathedral with its famed tall towers (above) is a primary reason UNESCO chose this city as a World Heritage Site. I spent a Sunday listening to bells, watching religious processions, and admiring many churches. But the whole historic district is marvelous! When Napoleon’s army tried to take the city in 1862, General Zaragoza defeated the French troops, earning recognition in the city’s official full name Heroica Puebla de Zaragoza. Of course, you already know about that victory, since we celebrate its anniversary on Cinco de Mayo.
While a pueblo is a town, Puebla refers to the Spanish settlers who founded the city between the port of Veracruz and Mexico City. The name comes from poblar (populate), so both people and peppers from Puebla are known as poblanos. Be sure to enjoy the poblano mole along with some local hard apple cider and other delicacies. The Ampara Museum is excellent, with a photo timeline showing civilization’s achievements by continent, beautiful artifacts, including a colorful Quetzal mural, rare and exquisite items from Teotihuacán, and a myriad collection illustrating the vibrant history of pre-colonial Mexico. There’s also a bullet-ridden house turned Museum of the Revolution after a 1910 dictatorial police raid. The zócalo, the green central square park next to the cathedral, is a perfect place to sit amidst the bustle and just soak up the atmosphere.
Biospheres are important ecological areas around the globe for protecting species diversity and for learning how to best sustain development ecologically, economically and socially. Science and solutions learned in each area are shared globally through the United Nations, and this is particularly important now that we face a global climate crisis. UNESCO currently recognizes three biospheres in the Rocky Mountain Region, and up to 2017, there were five more described below.
The Rocky Mountain Biosphere in Colorado roughly encompasses Rocky Mountain National Park and some of the Rocky Mountain Wilderness to the north. Some of the charismatic species in the biosphere are Bighorn Sheep, Elk, Mountain Lions, Pika and Snowshoe Hare. Scientists have studied species that have been wiped out of the area, like the Grizzly, Gray Wolf and Bison, as well as species that have moved in, like Moose. The exceptionally high altitudes define unique ecosystems of global importance.
The Crown of the Continent Biosphere in Montana includes Glacier National Park (see photo of author & son above). (Perhaps to de-emphasize the shrinking glacier problem, the Biosphere dropped the name “Glacier” in 2017). The biosphere is home to rare charismatic species like Grizzly Bears, Lynx and Wolverines. Over 100 years of scientific data on wildfires, snowpack, species populations, and more have been collected and shared from this park and its sister park Waterton Glacier in Canada. Like Rocky Mountain, the biospheres here cover the Continental Divide, which defines the direction of rivers across the US to the Atlantic & Pacific, but from here rivers also flow north to the Arctic, making these biospheres of particularly important for studying migrating species.
Yellowstone-Grand Teton Biosphere in Wyoming obviously includes Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. One of the most intact predator-prey-scavenger biospheres on earth, with large herds of Elk and Bison, Grizzly Bears, Cutthroat Trout and Bald Eagles, and unrestricted rivers, this is an exceptionally important global biosphere.
Unfortunately, in 2017 the Trump Administration canceled 5 other biospheres in the Rocky Mountain Region. Apparently, the Israelis were upset that Palestinians were allowed to participate in UNESCO and used the place name “Palestine” in the name of a joint heritage site, so the US ended over forty years of scientific cooperation and research sharing with the world and removed many US biospheres from the global program.
The programs canceled in 2017 included three in Colorado: Central Plains Biosphere in the northeast, Fraser Biosphere in central, and Niwot Ridge Biosphere in the north. The Central Plains was particularly valuable in the study of short grass prairie ecosystems. Fraser was important in studying the interaction of forests, rivers and climate. Niwot Ridge contributed important research into alpine tundra ecosystems, glaciers, high altitude plants and climate change.
In Montana, the Coram Biosphere, west of Glacier NP ended in 2017. Coram was important in the study of forest regeneration and forest management. And in Utah, the Desert Biosphere, near Great Basin also ended in 2017. Desert, begun by President Hoover, contributed to our understanding of scrublands and pasturelands in hot and dry areas.
I’ve traveled in, through or next to all five canceled Rocky Mountain biospheres in my electric car, and they’re also uniquely beautiful places. But biospheres aren’t primarily meant for tourists, they’re meant for nature and for scientists. While some research continues at many of these sites, the international scientific and policy management cooperation was cut off. Especially facing a global climate crisis, we need to be actively cooperating to find global solutions to our ecological threats. Also, it seems bizarre to remove our own natural scientific research areas from participation in international science, due to deep-rooted political feuds in the Mideast. I hope these irrational mistaken biosphere withdrawals can be reversed by the current or future administrations, so that the global learning can continue.
Butterflies are free. Monarchs may arrive at their winter home late, be choosy about where to land, and may leave early. At around 10,000 feet, the dormant volcanic peaks are covered in trees and flowers, with the specific temperatures the Monarchs need. Despite the distance and dangers, the fragile butterflies still manage to fly from Canada to Mexico every year in an extraordinary migration, one of the coolest natural events on earth.
Everyone loves the monarchs, and between the states of Mexico and Michoacán the reserve is both a UNESCO Biosphere and a World Heritage Site. During the November to March season, crowds of locals take bus day trips to see them fly, cluster, feed, mate and fly again. Since the flighty monarchs are unpredictable, day trips can visit their chosen forest at the best times. Overseas visitors often stay for a few days in lovely spots—like Cerro Pelón B&B run by a family of original butterfly rangers—to enjoy the picturesque villages and relaxing environment while recovering from high altitude hiking, as I did.
Humans can impact these glorious butterflies in many ways, both positively and negatively, and we need to be much smarter about making small changes that can help: reduce pesticides, grow butterfly friendly plants and drive slower when butterflies are present. But also, we need to make big, global changes to reduce our carbon emissions, so that this species can survive.
Which brings me to an Earth Day question. Is it worth flying and driving here to see the butterflies, knowing that your carbon pollution will contribute to their extinction? Better to drive an electric car.
This is a photo of a photo of a Texas Horned Lizard in the arid Chihuahuan Desert scrubland, from a roadside plaque near Las Cruces, New Mexico. The actual habitat is within the White Sands Missile Range and is off limits to the public. This UNESCO recognized special biosphere, Jornada—meaning day’s journey without water—, is open to scientific researchers from USDA, USFWS and NMSU, with limited school trips to the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Park in the southernmost corner. For many decades, the Department of Agriculture has been studying the climate here, gathering useful data about the fragile desert ecosystem. The Fish and Wildlife Service mostly focuses on the Bighorn Sheep and other species in the adjacent San Andres Mountains. New Mexico State University organizes research efforts and assists student scientists.
While you can’t visit the Jornada biosphere or disturb the wildlife, these scientific research zones are extremely important for understanding global climate change and the ecosystems that support unique species. But the southwest region has two internationally recognized biospheres that you can visit: Big Bend and Big Thicket. Big Bend, like Jornada, is part of the Chihuahua Desert, and it also includes a biodiverse riverine ecosystem. Big Thicket is one of the most biodiverse places in the US, where the bayous, leafy forests, pine forests, plains and sand hills intersect and provide habitat for thousands of species. While these areas provide enjoyable excursions for Americans, they are also important beyond our borders. Scientists from all over the world actively support protecting and studying these areas to ensure the survival of species globally.
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